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My name is Ally Bean and this is my personal blog, answering the question: "What up, Buttercup?" I'm here a few times a week-- unless, of course, I'm not. And yes, I wear eyeglasses. Spectacles, if you will.

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“I am not always good and noble. I am the hero of this story, but I have my off moments.”
~ P.G. Wodehouse, Love Among the Chickens

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“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

~ Cicero

~ • ~

Phooey! I’m working on being grateful now, but after last week’s unexpected clear blue skies, this week’s return to dreary gray skies with snow has been difficult.

Piffle! Then add the lost hour of sleep [I’m looking at you, Daylight Savings Time] and I’m not feeling my usual writing mojo OR joie de vivre OR any other flapdoodle-y & twaddle-ish way of using words to indicate joy and productivity.

Pshaw! So instead of stressing myself to find something to write about that is actually interesting and fresh, I’ll just share some photos– and attempt to remember that I am grateful for this change in weather because the more the wet now, the prettier the flowers then.

~•~

In case you care, I looked up the meanings of the exclamatory words I used above. They are defined as follows:

I am at heart a project manager. I like to accomplish things. I’m practical. I’m determined. I have vision. I work well with people. I like to research, plan and then bring to fruition that which I set out to do.

But the Summer of 2014 has thwarted me on every front.

As some of you who live around here know, this has been one of the wettest summers on record. While California is drying up like an unloved, unwatered Philodendron in a terra-cotta pot sitting on the window sill, Ohio has been deluged with so much rain that outdoor pots of waterlogged geraniums and zinnias are holding up white flags of surrender.

All this rain is not right, I tell you.

We have done almost no gardening, no flea markets or antique shows, no cookouts or drinks on the deck with friends, no outdoor concerts, no long walks in the nature preserve or parks, no outside dinners at funky restaurants in cool parts of town, no redecorating projects that need bright clear natural light.

Pretty much one word sums up this past summer: NO!

Zen-Den, ever the optimist, reminds me that around here a wet summer leads to a glorious fall. And that if I can hold onto my sanity for just a few more weeks, I’ll be okay. So it is with that autumnal hope in mind that I continue on trying to ignore the lousy summer weather [like the current pouring rain + thunder] and find something else to do.

“The weekend at the college, Didn’t turn out like you planned. The things that pass for knowledge, I can’t understand.”

~ Steely Dan, “Reeling In The Years”

~ • ~

So my weekend didn’t go as I planned.

First, there wasn’t any sunlight which meant that we couldn’t seal the granite counters and tumbled stone backsplash in the kitchen. This is an annual project that we do at the beginning of March. It takes two days in all to get it done– AND it requires sunlight to get it done right. Naturally, it being the first weekend in March I had planned on doing this project, but Mother Nature, she be fickle.

So we didn’t do it.

Then second, I didn’t feel good– as in intestinal distress and a sore throat. So my plan for us to attend the home show was a no-go. The last place I wanted to be was in the middle of a huge convention center, surrounded by people and strollers. I could only envision the worst possible scenario with me needing a bathroom now– and no fast way to get to one.

So we didn’t go.

But the weekend wasn’t a total bust. Zen-Den watched basketball [*yawn*] and various movies that were on TV. Movies like The Karate Kid and Catch Me If You Can and Lady and the Tramp. While I drank hot tea, huddled in blankets and advanced to Level 15 [of 16 levels] on my iPad Tetris game.

So there’s that.

~ • ~

What did you do this past weekend? Something exciting? Or were you as dull as we were?